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Neville Chamberlain
Arthur Neville Chamberlain (1869–1940) was a British Conservative politician and Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1940. Chamberlain's legacy is marked by his appeasement policy regarding his signing of the Munich Agreement in 1938, conceding part of Czechoslovakia to Adolf Hitler. In the same year he also gave up the Irish Free State Royal Navy ports. Chamberlain was forced to resign the premiership on 10 May 1940, after Germany invaded the Netherlands, Belgium and France. He was succeeded by Winston Churchill but remained very well regarded in Parliament. Before ill health forced him to resign, he was an important member of Churchill's war cabinet. He had a key role in the formation of the Special Operations Executive. Chamberlain died of cancer six months after leaving office. Neville Chamberlain in Worldwar While Neville Chamberlain had been dead for two years when the Race's Conquest Fleet arrived, certain parties among his country's allies, Vyacheslav Molotov especially, never forgave his decision to appease Adolf Hitler.Upsetting the Balance, pg. 349. This was somewhat ironic as the alien invasion had forced all human powers to ally. Neville Chamberlain in The War That Came Early Neville Chamberlain was the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom during the first two years of the second European war. While he initially sought to prevent war at all costs by appeasing German leader Adolf Hitler, he was forced into a war that his country was ill-prepared for in 1938, and ultimately negotiated a bargain with the devil by making peace with Germany and then allying with her against the Soviet Union in the summer of 1940. Failing health prompted Chamberlain to resign as PM a few months later, and he did not live to see the final outcome of that "big switch" or the war. In September, 1938, Chamberlain and his French counter-part, Edouard Daladier, had all but signed over the Sudetenland region of Czechoslovakia to Hitler at the Munich Conference when word came that Konrad Henlein, the leader of the Sudeten Germans, had been murdered by a Czech assassin. Hitler seized upon the murder as an excuse for war with Czechoslovakia. Chamberlain initially tried to convince Hitler that the Czechs would agree to more concessions, but Hitler remained steadfast. Soon, Chamberlain concluded that Hitler and the Nazis had to have been behind Henlein's death; the cause for war was too much of a coincidence for Chamberlain to swallow, and with Daladier's support, Chamberlain warned Hitler that any attack upon Czechoslovakia would lead to war with Britain and France. Hitler welcomed this wider war. Germany declared war on Czechoslovakia, and Britain and France declared war on Germany.Hitler's War, pgs. 8-16. The first few months of the war were not terribly successful for the Allies. While French troops did invade Germany while Germany was busy invading Czechoslovakia, they did not press their offensive. The BEF in turn didn't leave the borders of France. When Czechoslovakia fell in November, 1938, both Allies suddenly found themselves at a disadvantage as they faced Germany. Soon, Germany had occupied the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium, and British troops were fighting Germany on French soil. Chamberlain survived two confidence votes in Parliament by the beginning of 1939.Ibid., pg. 213. He was a spared a third one when a joint Anglo-French offensive halted the German drive on Paris in early 1939. The Germans began a gradual retreat, although they still remained on French soil into the Summer of 1939.Ibid., Chapter 26, generally. Despite this, Chamberlain still faced opposition in Parliament. Even fellow Conservative Winston Churchill remained critical of Chamberlain's handling of the war.West and East, pg. 223. This criticism did not prevent Chamberlain from appointing Churchill to the new office of Minister of War in the Winter of 1939.Ibid., pg. 378. However, in the Spring of 1940, Deputy Führer Rudolf Hess parachuted into Scotland, where he was found by Sgt. Alistair Walsh. Walsh took Hess to the apropriate authorities. Germany called for a truce with Britain and France, and Hess began negotiations with the Chamberlain government for a new alliance among Britain, France, and Germany against the Soviet Union.Ibid., pg. 150-51. Churchill strongly and publically opposed this course of action,Ibid., pg. 197. and soon after he was hit and killed by a drunk driver while crossing the street in London.Ibid., pg. 214. Chamberlain saw to it that Churchill received a hero's funeral, which simply confirmed for many that he'd been murdered.Ibid., pg. 234. At the funeral, Chamberlain took the opportunity to bolster the "big switch" by reminding the British people that Churchill had opposed Bolshevism.Ibid., at pg. 238. In the Autumn of 1940, Chamberlain, suffering from ill health, resigned as PM, and hand picked his successor, Sir Horace Wilson.Ibid., pg. 339 Literary Comment Presumably, Chamberlain died on the same schedule as OTL. Turtledove does not explicitly say so. References Category:Englishmen Category:Mayors Category:Members of the British Parliament Category:Prime Ministers of Britain (Alternate Timeline) Category:Prime_Ministers_of_Britain_(OTL) Category:British Conservative Party Members Category:British Chancellors of the Exchequer Category:Unitarians Category:Worldwar Characters Category:Historical Figures Category:The War That Came Early Characters Category:Died of Cancer (OTL)